Vikki's Nano

[Vikki]

OK, so the madness has begun. Took over th 15g nano from Bryan. Set up some rock and went and made my first purchase that didn't go into his tank. Got a domino damsel, a yellow tail damsel, a fire scallop and a spiney serpeant star. I know, I said I wouldnever get damsels, but they were the first ones that caught my eye and the rest of the stuff that caught my eye wsa beyond thisa evenings budget....for now.

Here's a pic, day one. Nothing special, but it's all mine.

Of course, everything but the scallop are hiding, so...

 

[mikem]

Nice start.
Is that calupra growing in the tank?

 

[Vikki]

Why yes, yes it is. ;D Not growing wild though, I placed it there.

 

[mikem]

Pull it out. It will spread out of control.

 

[Vikki]

I had it in there when the tank was empty to keep the water live. Its been in there a few weeks and hasn't really spread much. We keep most of it in the sump for Bryan's 72g.

 

[Vikki]

If it starts to grow out of control, I'll throw on my SNUBA and take a weed wacker to it.

 

[mikem]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Hawkeye]

lol....you'd be surprised about snuba. When I was on the boat in hawai'i - you could snorkle (what I did) or pay an exorbitant fee to SNUBA and go way down. The benefit I guess is that there is no PADI certification required.

You should look for Brian's 225 monstrosity...that's the thread where his caulpera (different species - but similar) went out of control a little (haha).

Anyways - cool little tank! I know it's crazy but I love YT damsels - I think they are cool and (obviously) quite affordable. I think harlequinreef has a cool tank with just all YT damsels. Definitely different and I can appreciate that.

Dominos are nice but they lose that coloration as they age.

I can't let the scallop go though...honestly - stores should not sell these to anyone. even experienced reefers have a hard time keeping them alive. Whether it was the handling, acclimation or shipping - (and this is all BEFORE you bought it) - something causes them to have an extremely short life span. Good luck!

 

[Vikki]

I can appreciate that about the scallop. I had one in Bryan's tank and one of the larger fish decided to have sushi for dinner. They aren't very expensive, so I figured I'd give it another try with smaller fish.

 

[Vikki]

Here we are, day 2, eh.... ;D Added to the collection and think I'm set on the fish. Added a jewelled damsel and a 6 line wrasse (which is acting weird). Also added a few clusters of purple stars, some green zoos, a feather duster and what Bryan says are whammy watermellon zoos.

Here's a pic, day 2....

 

[Hawkeye]

cool fish...the feather duster is a filter feeder - keep that in mind as you'll need to supplement with some food like DT's Phytoplankton.

 

[Vikki]

Thank you for the info. And for some bedtime reading, I got a saltwater aquarium for dummies book.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Hey here are the pics!!! Nice job.

I would go with Mike on getting the calupra algae out....once you lose control of it it can be a pain to starve it out of existance...especially in a nano...speaking from experience. :
There are some other algaes that would be nice, shaving bush, halimeda, or turtle grass. They don't tend to get out of control ...if they do someone will buy them at least.

Cute fish how is the 6 line doing?

James

 

[Vikki]

last I saw him, he seemed to be ok, no more slime. Any idea why he did that?

 

[JRWOHLER]

I would say that it was just the natural coat that the fish has and it was visible....maybe your floors were dusty .

 

[Vikki]

OK, did my first big water change and my first water test. Here are the results (may Ihave the envelope please......)

pH: 8.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30
Calcium: 460
Ammonia: .25
Phosphate: 2.0

Do I pass??? ???

 

[Phyl]

Definitely the parameters of a newly cycling tank. The Ammo (unless you're getting a false positive) may indicate that your tank is still adjusting to your bioload. The Nitrates aren't the end of the world (unless you're a coral). In a reef I'd try to keep them under 10. The PH could stand to be a bit higher, but that's a balancing act. I don't see your Alk reading on there. Did you do one?

 

[mtg6486]

i like it nice start

 

[Vikki]

Thanks. I'm trying to keep a good tank. And no, no alkalinity kit yet. Hoping to get one this week though.

 

[Vikki]

OK, it's been more than a week since my last update. Tank is doing awesome. All fish are alive, well and healthy. My scallop is still thriving, imagine that! Added lots of stuff, including a frogspawn, a candy tip anemone and real nice yellow open brain that I just got from AO tonight (Thanks Wlll!)

Here's the latest pic...sorry it's a little fuzzy